Cape Town - The stage is set. And coach Desiree Ellis’ Banyana Banyana stars could be crowned Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champs after 90 minutes of football, and possibly extra time and penalties.
But standing in their way on Saturday is a strong Moroccan side which will have the boost of its fans, notorious for shining laser pointers, and a French-born coach Reynald Pedros hell-bent on guiding his charges to African football nirvana.
This will be Banyana’s sixth final appearance after 11 tournaments and first after four tournaments. There is broad daylight between South Africa (58) and Morocco (77) on the FIFA world rankings.
Banyana Banyana have an excellent record against Morocco and have never suffered defeat in three meetings after two wins and a draw in friendly matches in 1998.
The two teams have not crossed paths since then and have never met in a competitive match.
However, a few days ago, Morocco showed scant regard for world rankings after dumping 11-time champions (in 14 tournaments) Nigeria (39) on the 2022 also-rans scrapheap after their historic semi-final win.
It was the first time the ever-improving Atlas Lionesses of Morocco had moved beyond the quarter-final round at Wafcon.
The hosts Morocco have emerged as the surprise package at the African women’s football continental showpiece. Prior to their semi-final triumph, Morocco completed the group phase undefeated. South Africa were the only other side to match that feat.
It is worth noting that Morocco showed remarkable character after the semi-final setback of a second-half own goal by Yasmin Mrabet, their Spanish-born midfielder. The own goal came at a time when Nigeria had been reduced to 10 players after a red card.
They stormed back minutes later through striker Sanaâ Mssoudy to equalise. Nigeria finished the match with nine players but they could not deny Morocco from prevailing 5-4 in the eventual penalty shoot-out.
Throughout the match, their coach Pedros, a 25-time capped French midfielder, considered to be on par with the great Zinedine Zidane patrolled his technical area and calmly directed operations by showing his players what they should do.
After the match, Pedros said he knew what was needed to take down the 11-time champions, but he placed a huge emphasis on the role of the supporters who were rather vocal in a crowd of 45 562 fans. It was the biggest crowd ever at a women’s football match on the continent.
“I want to thank the fans. The atmosphere helped us a lot. It was amazing - they were the 12th, 13th or even 14th player,” said Pedros after defeating Nigeria.
“We are very ambitious and when we see this number of fans who are encouraging the players in the way that they did, it helps to motivate and inspire the team.”
Pedros said his team will be up for the final and after five matches at the tournament, the team will be ready to face South Africa.
“We have played against different opponents that play different styles and this means that we have to find solutions,” said Pedros. “We always prepare for this and grow into the game and that helps us going forward.”
There were many reports of Morocco fans shining laser lights on the Nigerians while the penalty shoot-out was in progress, and many felt it had contributed to the Super Falcons’ 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat.
Afterwards, the president of the Nigeria Football Federation and FIFA Council Member, Amaju Pinnick, condemned the beaming of laser lights directly into the eyes of the Super Falcons players to disrupt their play.
This is the type of hostility Banyana Banyana can expect from a capacity crowd at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco when the final will be played (start 10pm, SA time).
However, with all the publicity around the lasers, it is unlikely that CAF will be caught off guard again. Very likely lasers will be banned from the stadium.
Cape Times